History

How not to play youth sports, Russian hockey version

Fighting in the NHL and Canadian junior hockey is governed by a strict code. The parts leading up to the fight are nonsensical — it all has to do with calling people to account for dirty plays, except that it somehow ends up in the hands of two enforcers fighting each other over stuff involving their teammates. But the fight itself is arranged fairly.

You don’t pummel people when they’re down — it’s one thing to do that on a mat in MMA, quite another to do it on ice. And the fight is supposed to be the safety valve that stops you from doing anything dirtier — a shot to someone’s knee, a vicious cross-check — in retaliation.

These Russian kids have seen a few fights, but they haven’t learned the code. And it doesn’t look like anyone’s trying to teach them. And it’s ugly.